High speed rail to start in October, minister says

Minister of Transportation and Communications Kuo Yao-chih (郭瑤琪) reiterated yesterday that the Taiwan High Speed Railway will become operational by October and she promised to resign if that deadline is missed.

The Banciao City, in Taipei County, to Kaohsiung section of the High Speed Railway will be fully operational on schedule, she said.

However, currently the route cannot be expanded further from Banciao to Taipei.

"We have hit problems between Banciao and Taipei," Kuo said.

She made the remarks yesterday in response to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsao Shou-min (曹壽民) at the Legislative Yuan.

Pang Jar-hua (龐家驊), a deputy director-general of the Bureau of High Speed Rail, said that some of the infrastructure, including electric cables and traffic signals, were still under construction.

While the High Speed Railway utilizes platforms that were already built by Taiwan Railway, the standards they use are quite different.

For instance, the platform used by the Taiwan Railway is 76cm in height, but the High Speed Railway needs higher platforms, he said.

Pang added that construction would not be delayed by inclement weather since it would all be done in the tunnel.

"The goal is to get the High Speed Railway running all the way to Taipei as soon as possible." said Pang, "The extra time required should not exceed two to three months."

When asked whether any alternative solution would be available if the High Speed Railway was not ready for October, Pang outlined the challenging nature of construction work on the Taipei-Banciao section.

"[The construction work] is like wearing clothes and mending them at the same time," said Pang. "The normal railway system continues its operation while the High Speed Railway construction is proceeding. We have to find times to work on the project."

"Taipei and Banciao are very important stations in northern Taiwan." he said. "The High Speed Rail, the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) System and the existing railway system can all carry passengers between these two locations. So even if the High Speed Rail fails to serve this section, passengers would still have alternative means of transportation."

Pang added that the railways operate two different systems and this could generate safety concerns if there was no coordination between the two.

According to Pang, the High Speed Railway has completed approximately 95 percent of construction work. The tracks have been completely paved, and 99 percent of station construction was finished.

Pang also mentioned that the Tucheng-Banciao extension of the MRT's blue line was expected to be operational by the end of next month.

Travelers could therefore use the Tucheng-Nangang line to reach the Banciao High Speed Railway station, he said.